Caley Jim

The WCJS had dining saloons and sleeping cars in the same style, they all being built at Wolverton. Jim

After I had completed the first footbridge for the Dunallander layout it was pointed out to me that there was a second footbridge to the north of the station. A path led from the north end of the island platform and was linked to the west side of the town by this bridge which crossed the outer track of the island platform and the goods yard entrance. Originally it was a standard CR timber design, but at some point before the period of the layout (1960's) it had been replaced by a lattice structure. This was visible in several photos, but is long gone and there are no known drawings. from the photos and the outline Neil had drawn on the baseboard I was able to create this drawing. 2nd footbridge Drawing.pdf The different colours were to help me in working out the layers for creating the artwork for the etch. that went off to PPD ten days ago and I expect its deliver imminently. I will post its construction hre.

My choice would be for a variant of the sixth one down, that being very close to the livery applied by the Caledonian to non-Westinghouse fitted locos, though there were exceptions to the rule. The 492 class 0-8-0T's were one of those, being Westinghouse fitted, but painted in the 'freight' livery. The variation was that the boiler bands were edged white, with a red line down the centre. The 492 class were built for shunting trains of the 30T bogie mineral wagons, however these wagons were too far a head of their time to be successful. Jim

Like Ian, 16T mineral wagons are far too modern for my taste and I've never seen an etch like that. Coupling supports were the first thing that came to mind, but where to locate them? Why is there a series of slots at each end and what are the two longitudinal slots neat either end for? Mike did develope the MBM coupling which was like an upside down Tri-ang tension lock. Jim

I would suggest a grey/brown 'weathered wood' colour. I tend to use grey with a little 'natural wood' mixed in. I can't imagine that engineering department vehicles would look particularly well cared for! Jim

On behalf of the Caledonian Railway Company I refute that any such liason ever took place! Jim

Same applies to Aj's and you don't have to do a 'soft shoe shuffle' with them when uncoupling! Jim

So, for once we baby boomers are not getting the blame! Jim

Since I'm on holiday in Portugal, looking out of the window, it's brilliant sunshine ☀! Jim ( sorry about that)

Been there, done that, many a time and oft! To be fair, I usually find them eventually, but that is long after I've fabricated a replacement. All the etched kits I design, whether purely as one-offs or for others, have as many multiples of small parts as I can fit in. Jim

Happy birthday Annie. I had one yesterday! It's a proven fact that those who have the most birthdays live the longest. Jim

I used to have a poster on my study wall w which said; 'when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on'! Jim

And there's 4 of them! Jim

And each of these 12 months could well be Aprils. :-) Jim

This is one f the reasons why railway maintenance companies are now regularly employed on 'vegetation clearance'. Where once the grass and bushes on the sides of cuttings and embankments were kept in check by occasional fires caused by sparks from locos, they started to proliferate when diseisasals came along, resulting in the problems from 'leaves on the line' in autumn, among others. Jim

And where does Roswell fit into all this? Or is that another story again? Jim

I'm not familiar with that book, so can't confirm the author, but when I joined the 2MM SA in the late 60's, any articles on loco construction usual started with 'chuck a 1 inch bolt in the lathe...'. This being the starting point of making driving wheels. As I've never possessed a lathe, it was fortunate that the Association started to produce a range of driving wheels a few years later! Transformer laminations were the recommended material for motor cores. Jim

It's also worth putting a length of rod, the same diameter as the axles, through the bearings while you fix then. That way both bearings will be perfectly aligned. Jim

I've been rather busy recently drawing up etches for things for a couple of groups. One is for a second footbridge from Dunblane for the Dunallander layout, which had to be drawn up from photos as it is long gone and there are no drawings. I'll start a thread on the 2FS section when I start to build it. I'll leave the second set of items for the group concerned to describe when they get them. I hope to get the artwork files off to PPD before the end of the week. Jim

Or Trigger's brush from 'Only Fools and Horses'! Jim

If you read the caption to the photograph I read it as saying that it had been an 0-6-2st and then had been converted to an 0-8-0st. Jim

we have a member of our area group who spends all his time planning a layout. We refer to him as 'Mr Gunnado' as he's always gonna do something. Jim

As Andy says in the post before this one, the ticket is a monthly one! Potentially 6 return journeys per week for 4 weeks which equates to just over a farthing per journey ! Jim

Have you asked on the CRA website ? Jim

Make it into a series of such 'windows' and have multiple entries ! Jim